My Feet Hate Me

That's what Dan said after a long, long day of moving. We all agreed.

We've been keeping busy at the new house. We got all the heavy stuff moved last weekend, and then Brad and Dan finished up some odds & ends on Monday before Dan had to head back to Dallas, and Brad back home to Idaho. We've run into a few small details that aren't hard to fix, just annoying. Like figuring out how to work the thermostat (finally downloaded the manual off the internet!), and changing the outlets from 2- to 3-prong. You'd be surprised at how many devices these days require 3-prong outlets!

There is still quite a bit left at the old house, but I am taking my time and moving about 1 Rodeo load full every night after work. Then we can do the bulk of it next weekend when Dan is here. Mostly I am just trying to get my clothes closet moved, and essentials like bathroom stuff.


I will post photos of the interior soon, but I'll leave you with this one I took today. I love, love how the dining room color turned out! Just like I pictured it in my head - haha! Not much for decor yet, but here you go. Can't have a blog post without a photo, anyway. :)





Oh and I can't forget... congratulations to my sister-in-law Heather and her husband Monroe... just found out they are expecting their first baby!

At the New House

We have been busy busy busy over at the new house the past week. Thanks to Dan's dad, we have been able to cross a lot off of our "to do" list.

1. paint the entire inside of the house. This includes ceilings (white), and 5 different colors:

Honeydew (Master Bedroom)

Tradewind (Dining room)

Grey Matters (Office)

Dover White (Bathrooms)

Softer Tan (all other rooms!)

2. caulk all windows, doors, cracks, etc.

3. install radiant barrier in the attic.

This proved a little more difficult (and a lot hotter) than expected. Afterword, Brad looked like the Tin Man.

4. install a doggie door for the puppies.

5. had the bug guy come and spray inside and out.

My job has been to take off/put back on all the cover plates for the outlets and light switches, and clean.

Left on the list: replace weatherstripping on all doors, tighten screws on kitchen cabinets (some don't close properly), and of course - move in all our stuff!

Raindrops

This was my photo for today.

And it got me thinking about a few things.

1.  I drove home today in a thunderstorm.  Pouring rain.  Lightning.  Thunder.  The whole show.

2.  Boy, I miss Oregon rain.  When we lived in Oregon and Washington, it rained often.  In Texas, it rains a lot.  I'm talking quantity, folks.  Lots of rain in a short amount of time.  While I like rain in any form, I much prefer the former.

3.  When driving in rain, please turn on your lights.  Especially when it is raining so hard that your windshield wipers are going full tilt.  That probably means that my windshield wipers are working overtime, too.  And I cannot see very well at times like that.  So please.  Lights.  

4.  I need new windshield wipers.

Stitching!

Our lesson today was on using PS Stitching brushes.  Kinda makes me want to get a sewing machine.  (I can hear Dan gasping already!)  I made these tags from scratch - can you believe it? I'm beginning to uncover the mysteries of Photoshop! :)

This makes me happy.

I saw this on Ali Edwards' blog, and it made me smile.



And I love what she said about it:

"It also totally reminds me to stop just going through the motions, or doing things just because that is the way they have always been done. What a tremendously wonderful celebration of life.

It seriously makes me want to get up and dance.

I want my life to be so joyously lived."

Me too. :)

Back to School

The PS Brush class continues to impress.  The last 2 days have been about creating frames using brushes.  Very fun.  

Here is today's assignment.  

Here Comes the Sun

I have had a request to finish the Anniversary Week Trip posts.  So here we go!

We got back to Houston on Thursday evening, and Friday we packed up the car again and headed to the Gulf of Mexico.  Dan's parents came along this time - and we had a great time!

First stop was Surfside Beach.

Aren't they so cute?

Well, until Brad tried to pull Debra into the ocean!

She is quick to forgive, evidently.  Hehe!

Here we are!

And here I am with the in-laws. :)

I like toes pictures.

I think Brad was tired of photos...

But we got him in the end!

This is one of my favorites of Dan and his dad.  

And we finally asked a stranger to take one of all of us together.  What a fun day at the beach!

More fun with PS Brushes!

Wowee!  I am learning so much in this class.  Look at these digital stickers I made from scratch!

Day 2 of Brush*Abilities

The fun continues...here is today's assignment.

Brush*Abilities

We interrupt your regularly scheduled programming to bring you this update!

I started a new class at Jessica Sprague.com today.  It's called Brush*Abilities, and it is SO much fun!  I thought I knew everything there is to know about Photoshop brushes, but I was wrong.  It is only Day 1, and have already learned lots of cool tricks.  Here is my homework for today:

More Carlsbad Caverns

After the tour of the Left Hand Tunnel, we did a self-guided tour of the Big Room, which really is BIG!  The big room is the largest single underground chamber in the world.  It is about 2,000 feet long and an average of 600 feet wide, an average 200 feet high, and covers an area of 12 to 14 acres! 

I thought this would make a great texture shot!

After our self guided tour, we took one last ranger-guided tour of the Kings Palace, which gave us a lot of the history of the cave.

And that wraps up the cave photos.  Next up: Surf Side and Galveston beach.